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US Sen. Capito wins GOP primary in West Virginia

By JOHN RABY and ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE 2 min read
FILE - In this May 20, 2020 file photo Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., speaks during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Capito is seeking her second six-year term in the Senate and faces two challengers in the Republican primary next Tuesday, June 9, 2020. (Al Drago/Pool via AP)

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Shelley Moore Capito moved a step closer toward becoming the first West Virginia Republican to be reelected to the U.S. Senate in more than a century, easily winning her primary Tuesday night.

Capito defeated two other GOP candidates to set up a November showdown with a Democrat lacking statewide political experience.

Capito breezed past Family Policy Council of West Virginia President Allen Whitt and former craftsman Larry Butcher. Campaign finance records showed Capito raised more than $4.2 million and had $3 million cash on hand, far more than all other candidates in both parties combined.

Republicans made major gains when Capito won the 2014 Senate race and helped other candidates capture all the state’s U.S. House seats for the first time since 1921. Capito is West Virginia’s first female U.S. senator and the first Republican since 1959.

President Donald Trump won 68% of the state vote in 2016. Capito hopes that red wave continues this year. The state hasn’t reelected a Republican to the Senate since 1907.

Three Democrats were competing in a primary Tuesday to run against Capito in November: progressive candidate Paula Jean Swearengin, former state Sen. Richard Ojeda and former South Charleston Mayor Richie Robb.

Swearengin was featured in the 2019 Netflix documentary “Knock Down the House.” She accepted only individual donations during her campaign and outraised Ojeda by a more than 10-to-1 margin. It was the second political race for Swearengin, who received 30% of the vote in the 2018 primary against Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin.

Ojeda lost to Republican Carol Miller in the 3rd District U.S. House race in 2018. He resigned his state Senate seat last year to mount a long-shot bid for president, then quit after two months.

Robb served as South Charleston’s mayor from 1975 to 2007, and has run previous, unsuccessful campaigns for governor, Congress and state Senate. Currently an attorney, Robb reported no contributions or expenses in the primary.

Starting at /week.